Ghostbusters Crimson Tide: The Beginning
by Elemental Rhythm
Summary: A new franchise starts up as more trouble is found in Canada. Will the new recruits be able to prove themselves capable of taking up the mantle of ghostbusting?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Ghostbusters. Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Columbia Pictures do. However, I **do** own Crimson Tide and my permission must be granted for their use.  
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Leduc, Alberta   
Canada   
12:05 pm

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"C'mon! We're gonna be late!"An annoyed female voice exclaimed.

"We've still got fifteen minutes!"An irritated male voice answered.

"Yeah, and the walk over there will take about 5 minutes! Plus, we still have to buy tickets, get whatever we're getting at the concession stand, and find some seats. Even if we leave right this second, we'll _still_ be cutting it pretty close."The female pointed out.

"So? We'll only miss some previews, that's all. It's not like we'll miss any of the movie."The male reasoned.

"But I **like** watching the previews!"The female snapped.

"Crys, chill already. See, I'm ready now."DJ said, coming into the room.

"'Bout time Deej."Crystal said, rolling her eyes and practically shoving her brother out the door.

"You're really high-strung today,"DJ observed as they left their apartment and took the elevator to the ground floor,"what's up?"He asked with concern.

Crystal sighed. "It's nothing, really."She lied.

"Something's bothering you, I can tell. So spill it already."DJ said as they left the apartment complex and walked towards the cinema.

"It's my job."Crystal confessed,"I'm just getting really sick of it, that's all."

"Who can blame ya? No amount of money in the world could ever make me consider working at a daycare center."

"The only reason I even took it in the first place was because I really needed the money. But those hellspawn are driving me batshit insane!"Crystal raged, pulling her hair.

"Then quit."DJ pointed out calmly.

"And do what?"Crystal asked angrily."How'm I supposed to pay my half of the bills with no job?"

"Don't quit right away, dumbass. Look for another job first, **then** quit. Otherwise I can just picture you finally snapping one day and poisoning their juice boxes."

Crystal nearly collapsed from laughing. When she regained herself, she grinned at DJ.

"Where do you come up with this stuff?"She asked admiringly. DJ just smirked at her.

"You know, I'd love to see what goes on inside your head."Crystal remarked.

"No you wouldn't. You wouldn't last five seconds in there."

"Yeah, probably not."

They arrived at the movie theater and bought their tickets.

"I still don't know how you dragged me here to see Goblet of Fire. I don't even _like_ Harry Potter!"DJ complained as they lined up at the concession stand.

"Oh hush. Just give it a chance; you may very well like it after all."Crystal told him, buying a large popcorn with extra butter and a medium coke.

"I doubt it."DJ rolled his eyes and he bought the same thing as her.

"Just don't complain during the movie and ruin it on me. If you do, I'm dumping the ice from my drink down the back of your shirt."Crystal warned him as they entered the room and took their seats.   
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"Have you seen my keys?"Shaun asked, practically tearing apart the house looking for them.

"You misplaced them again?"His younger sister, Mileena, asked."You're pathetic!"

Shaun spared a moment to glare at her before resuming the search.

"Just be quiet and help me look! I'm running late as it is!"He moaned. Mileena smirked at him.

"What's the matter? Got a hot date that you don't wanna miss?"

Shaun grumbled something under his breath.

"**No**, smartass. I'm supposed to meet a friend for lunch."

"A _girlfriend_?"Mileena asked with mock-innocence.

"A friend. Who just happens to be a girl."Shaun replied, somewhat distracted.

"Suuuurrreee."Mileena drawled, enjoying this conversation.

"Anyway, just help me look for them. Please?"Shaun begged, at his wit's end. With a teasing grin Mileena brought her hand out from behind her back, revealing the keys she had in her hand.

"Where did you find them?"Shaun asked, half in joy at finally having the keys and half in anger that Mileena put him through that just for her own twisted amusement.

"They were on the coffee table, idiot."Mileena told him, jabbing her thumb in its direction. Shaun looked sheepish.

"Um..."He began, feeling himself blush. Mileena laughed.

"Here."She said, tossing him the keys. He caught them.

"Go on, have a wonderful time."She continued.

"Thanks!"Shaun responded, hurrying out of the house. Mileena watched him go, shaking her head in amusement.   
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Charlotte was watching the outdoors from the living room window, wondering where Shaun was.

'It's not like him to be late,'she thought with worry,'I hope nothing's happened.' 

Shaun was going to treat her to lunch and then do a bit of shopping with her. However, he was supposed to pick her up ten minutes ago.   
This was not boding well with Charlotte, who was imagining all sorts of awful things that might have happened to him.

Luckily, before Charlotte could work herself into a panic, she saw Shaun's car pull into her driveway and hurried to get her boots on.   
Once that was done she exited the house, locked the door, and hurried down her driveway.

"Sorry I'm late,"Shaun apologized with an embarrassed grin.

"That's all right,"Charlotte said, relieved that he was okay,"did something happen?"

"Just a little argument with my kid sister. It's not really a big deal."Shaun lied.

"Oh."Charlotte decided not to press the issue, for which Shaun was extremely grateful.

"So!"He said, effectively changing the topic,"do you want to grab a bite first and then head to the mall? Or eat at one of the locations in there?"

"I'd like to eat in the mall, if it's okay with you. Some of the places in the West Edmonton Mall have really good food."Charlotte told him.

"Fine by me."Shaun agreed, pulling onto the street and driving to the mall.   
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Edmonton Airport   
12:25 pm   
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"Why'd we have to come during the winter?"Peter complained, taking a look out one of the nearby windows.

"Because, Peter, this happens to be when the conference is taking place. Would you have preferred that the conference be rescheduled for some time in the summer perhaps?"Egon asked dryly.

"Ah, come on guys. It's not so bad."Ray said optimistically.

"Yeah, if you're Frosty."Peter grumbled.

"Cheer up man,"Winston said, placing a hand on his shoulder,"it's the holiday season."

"Yes, and I'd rather be spending it with my family if it's all the same to you guys."

"So would we Peter. But since we're here let's try to enjoy ourselves, okay?"

"But this is a great opportunity!"Ray gushed."Just think, we may very well inspire even more people to take up the cause of ghostbusting!"

"Indeed. Plus, this conference may contribute greatly to our field and help bring more recognition to it."Egon said.

"We've saved the world on numerous occasions, we've got franchises all over the US, some in Canada and even one over in Europe, **and** we're cultural icons! How much more recognition do you people need?"Peter asked, exasperated.

Ray shrugged his shoulders and grinned.

"Aren't you the one who wanted Ghostbusters International to be world famous?"Winston asked Peter in a joking manner.

"Yeah."Peter agreed.

"And isn't something like this good publicity for us?"Winston continued.

"I suppose..."Peter admitted reluctantly.

"Then what's the problem?"Ray piped in.

"I don't suppose there is one then."Peter said sarcastically.

"Peter, it's the 26th. The conference is only two days long; we'll be home in time for you to welcome the new year with your family."Egon pointed out.

"Good."Peter said, yawning.

"I get it. You're just cranky because you're tired."Ray observed. Peter smiled wanly at him.

"Damned long flight and jet lag are going to do me in before the conference even starts."Peter predicted as they went to gather their luggage and equipment.

"If you had gone to bed early last night like I had suggested, you would not be this tired right now."Egon told him in a scolding manner.

"Egon, how many years have you known me?"

"Many years. Why?"Egon asked suspiciously.

"Then you know very well that I am just not a morning person, under any circumstance. Even if I had gone to bed at...say six, I would still be tired. Especially since we had to get up too early for a plane that was delayed for a few hours anyway!"Peter complained, not happy about the delay.

"Your internal clock _is_ an unusual phenomenon."Egon agreed,"perhaps I should study it sometime. If I could deduce what makes you sleep for so long I may be able to develop a permanent cure for insomnia."

Peter mock-glared at him."Shut it Spengs, okay?"

"Here's our stuff."Winston called as their luggage came into view. To make it easier to get their equipment onto the plane and through the airports they had placed it all in suitcases lest they draw too much attention to themselves.

They each grabbed their suitcases of equipment and clothing and headed out the front door where a limo awaited them, ready to drive them to the hotel they would be staying at for the next couple of days.   
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DJ cursed as he watched Harry complete the first task of the Triwizard Tournament.

Crystal turned towards him with a puzzled expression.

"What's eating you?"She asked.

"I was hoping the dragon would finish that kid off."DJ told her. Crystal swatted him.

"How can you say that?"She whispered, horrified.

"Come on, you know it's just a movie. The characters are as real as Santa Claus for crying out loud!"DJ whispered back.

"I know that, dirt-for-brains. I just can't believe you'd wish the main character dead."

"Why not? Based on what you told me about the fifth and sixth books Harry's a whiny little brat. I say let him die now while he still has some semblance of cool left in him."

"I can't believe you sometimes, you know that?"Crystal shook her head, wondering why she put up with DJ.

"C'mon Crystal, there's no need to be such a fangirl about all this. You're 26 freaking years old! Don't you think you could find something a little more grown-up to go nuts over?"

"The Harry Potter series is plenty grown-up for your information. Lots of adults worldwide read the books and watch the movies."

"Yeah. Total geeks."DJ remarked. Crystal glared angrily at him.

"Just shut up so I can get back to the movie."She snapped. DJ rolled his eyes and went back to silently mocking the movie.   
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"The mall's really busy today."Shaun noticed as he and Charlotte ate their late lunch.

"It's Boxing Day. All the sales are on now."Charlotte pointed out.

"Oh yeah."Shaun blushed, wondering how he could forget about that.

"Shaun?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for coming with me today. I really appreciate it."She smiled at him. Shaun felt his temperature rise slightly.

"Ah, it was nothing. I'm glad to be here."He told her truthfully.

'I'm glad you're here too.'Charlotte thought.

"So..."Shaun began, trying to decide on a new topic to discuss,"where do you want to head to first?"

"How about HMV?"Charlotte suggested.

"Okay. Usually they're very expensive, but with the sales going on some movies should be pretty cheap."

"Anything you're interested in over there?"Charlotte asked.

"I can't really think of anything, but it never hurts to look."Shaun told her.

"True."

"What about you?"Shaun asked,"what are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for the Ever After dvd. I watched it at a friend's house a few days ago and liked the movie so much I decided to get a copy."

"Sounds interesting. What's it about?"

"It's a romance starring Drew Barrymore. It's basically a retelling of Cinderella."

"Ah. I hope you find a copy."

"Thanks."   
----------------------------

"What are you doing? Idiot! Land on the friggin' deku flowers, don't fall off them!"Mileena shouted at Link, though it did no good as she was the one controlling him and therefore was the one unable to complete this part of the maze.

"I swear, I should just let that stupid monkey burn for all the trouble he's putting me through to get to him. I don't know why he can't just teach me the Sonata of Awakening without me having to sneak into his cage first."She continued to herself, hating this particular part of Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.

"Maybe I'll just stay in the palace and watch him burn after I get the song. Then after that happens I'll go back to the first day and then complete the first dungeon."Mileena thought aloud.

"Will they really burn him? Or is that not actually programmed into the game?" Hopping back around to where the beanstalk was planted she boarded it and entered the maze to try again.

"This is it. If I don't get to him this time around I'm resetting the stupid game and playing Ocarina of Time instead."She decided as Link soared over to the next deku flower.   
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Author's Notes: As you can tell, this will be the introductory fic of Crimson Tide, my own little Ghostbusters franchise.

If you're disappointed that there's no action in this chapter I promise you that it will be in the next one. I just wanted to use this chapter to introduce my characters and to bring the Real Ghosbusters to Leduc. (Well, they're actually staying in Edmonton, which is nearby, but my team will operate out of Leduc once it's started up because I like that town.)

So if you have any questions or comments about this chapter I'll address them in the next one. See ya then! ;)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Standard one here. If you wish to read it then check out the first chapter.   
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Later that afternoon   
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"As you can see from this diagram, once a trap has been placed into the containment unit the captured entity is pulled into the unit and is interred there permanently."Egon explained, indictating the large diagram displayed next to him. Sitting at the nearby table on the stage were the other Ghostbusters.  
Ray listened intently, waiting for his cue, while Winston was mentally preparing for his segment; he was going to talk about what it was like to be a regular guy doing this job as opposed to being a scientist like the others and about their experiences from his point of view.

Meanwhile Peter was listening in a bored manner, haven already delivered his discussion on the field of parapsychology, and was idly wondering when they could leave and grab a bite to eat. Glancing down at his watch, he saw that there were still two more hours before the designated finish.

'Great...'He thought sarcastically,'at this rate I'll be ready to eat the table here soon!'   
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"Hey sis,"Shaun said, walking through the front door,"mind giving me a hand here?"

Mileena looked up from her video game(she had finally reached the monkey in the cage and learned the Sonata of Awakening) and saw Shaun overladen with bags.

"Holy crap! Buy out a whole store, did ya?"She asked in amazement as she hurried over and grabbed a couple from him.

"Most of them are groceries, actually."Shaun replied,"and there are a few more bags in the jeep."

"Good. I was about to tell you that we needed some more food anyway."Mileena told him as she placed the bags on the kitchen floor.

"Could ya go grab the rest? They're in the trunk."

"'Kay!"Mileena pulled her boots on and hurried outside.

"You could've put on a jacket first! Trying to make yourself sick?"Shaun hollered out after her.

"Whatever!"She called back. Shaun just sighed and went into the kitchen with the bags he was holding, making sure to take his boots off first. As he began to put the food away Mileena returned with the rest of the bags, which she laid down beside the ones already on the floor. She then began to help Shaun put it all away.

"What were you playing?"Shaun asked with interest.

"Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask."She replied promptly.

"Again?"Shaun chuckled,"haven't you had enough frustration already?"

"Hey! I vowed I'm gonna beat it, and I damn well will!"Mileena said with determination.

"I seem to remember you saying that about Ocarina of Time. How's that working out for you?"Shaun teased. Mileena stuck out her tongue at him.

"For your information, I have started playing that again as well, and am doing pretty well at it."

"Then you've beaten the first dungeon already?"Shaun questioned. Mileena coughed.

"Not exactly."She admitted, putting away the peanut butter.

"Queen Gohma, huh?"Shaun guessed.

"That thing is just so freaky! The Giant Skulltulas are bad enough, but why the hell did the dungeon boss have to be a gigantic spider?"Mileena complained, shivering at the thought of the thing.

"You really have to something about that arachnophobia of yours. I don't think your level of fear is healthy."Shaun said with concern.

"I'm fine."Mileena said dismissively.

"If you say so,"Shaun said doubtfully,"do you want me to beat Gohma for you?"He offered.

"...would you?"Mileena asked hopefully.

"Not a problem. You know I'm always here for you."Shaun smiled.

"And vice versa."Mileena smiled back.   
---------------------------

"Are you going to bitch about the movie all day?"Crystal asked, clearly annoyed. They were back at their apartment, and DJ was still complaining about various aspects of Goblet of Fire.

"Not **all** day,"DJ told her,"I can't complain about it while I'm asleep."

"Smartass."Crystal smirked, throwing a pillow from the couch at him.

"Hey!"DJ protested, tossing the pillow back at Crystal. She caught it and put it on the couch. DJ then glanced over at the window as something caught his eye.

"Say, did you see that?"He asked.

"See what?"Crystal questioned, following his gaze.

"I don't know. I just saw something out of the corner of my eye, that's all."

"Maybe it was a bird?"Crystal suggested.

"It was too big to be a bird."DJ disagreed.

"Then what do you think it might have been?"

"I'm not sure. It looked like it was made of vapour or something."

"You probably just spotted a cloud then."Crystal said in a bored tone, flopping down onto the couch and turning the tv on.

"One that flies out of sight before I can turn my head?"DJ pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"So you're saying that you're slower than a cloud?"Crystal commented, channel surfing.

"I'm being serious!"DJ snapped, frowning. Crystal looked over at him.

"It was probably nothing,"she assured him,"your mind could've just misinterpreted the information it was recieving from your eyes, leading you to believe that you saw something which wasn't even there. That is, if you even **have** a mind."

"Would it _kill_ you to be nice for once?"DJ asked sarcastically, joining her on the couch.

"To you? Yes."Crystal quipped.

"Just shut up and put Voyager on. That Seven's a real hottie."

Crystal bopped DJ on the head.

"Pervert."   
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Charlotte hummed as she cleaned around her house, unaware that she was being watched. A ghostly form hovered outside her window, bouncing from side to side and laughing softly.   
Charlotte wiped the dust around her lamp and the ghost playfully blew a raspberry at her. Blinking in surprise at the noise, she turned toward the source. The ghost, however, had sensed the movement and had flown out of sight before it could be seen.

Charlotte stared at the window for a few seconds before shaking her head and deciding that she must have imagined it.

'Maybe I did too much today,'she thought,'I'm probably just tired. I should have a short nap. That might help.'Charlotte left the living room and headed to her bedroom.   
The ghost, meanwhile, had moved on, wanting to find someone more interesting to pester.   
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The buzz of chatter filled the air as the conference finished up for the day. As everyone exited the building, looking forward to what the next day would bring, four familiar faces could be seen.

"Wasn't that exciting?"Ray proclaimed, eyes bright with amazement.

"Indeed. I look forward to the next day. It should prove to be quite interesting."Egon agreed, adjusting his glasses.

"You and I obviously have very different ideas of what's 'interesting' then."Peter told him, stretching his arms.

"Obviously."Egon replied dryly.

"Let's forget about the conference for now and go get a bite to eat, okay?"Winston suggested as they walked to the car they had rented for the duration of their stay.

"Sounds good to me."Peter agreed,"I'm starving!"

"Where do you guys wanna go?"Ray asked, getting into the front passenger seat beside Winston, who had elected to drive the whole time.

"Anywhere as long as the food is good."Peter told him, lounging in the back seat.

"I was informed by one of the other speakers that there is a very nice Chinese restaurant nearby. Perhaps we should go there."Egon suggested.

"Chinese food it is then."Winston declared."Where did he say the restaurant was?"

"She."

"What?"

"The one I recieved the tip from was a female speaker."

"Ah. Okay, where did _she_ say the restaurant was?"

Egon gave Winston the directions and he drove them there. As they pulled up, however, they saw people running from the restaurant, screaming.

"Come on! The food can't be that bad!"Peter joked. They exited the car and hurried over to two of the restaurant patrons.

"What's going on in there?"Winston asked in concern.

"There's a ghost! Tearing up the place!"They said in unison.

"So much for a short vacation."Peter remarked,"let's get our stuff." They went back to the car while the two patrons ran to safety with the others.

"Too bad there was only enough room in the trunk for two packs, the PKE Meter, and one trap."Ray said regretfully.

"So two of us attack the ghost while one scans the room for it and the other mans the trap."Winston pointed out.

"I've got dibs on one of the packs."Peter piped up, grabbing it as soon as the trunk was opened."I'm in the mood to kick some ghost butt."

"I'll use the trap."Ray offered, lifting it out. Egon had already taken the PKE Meter, leaving the other pack to Winston.

They entered the the restaurant and the meter immediately sprang to life.

"What's the verdict?"Peter asked, sweeping his eyes around the room in search of the spook.

"The readings indicate a Class III."Egon replied.

"Can you get a fix in its exact location?"Winston asked, readying his particle thrower. On the other side of Egon, Peter did the same.

Egon studied the meter and announced that the reading was coming from the right. No sooner had he said that than the ghost swooped down from the ceiling, heading straight at the Ghostbusters. They ducked to avoid it and then whirled around as it tried another arial assault.

"Fiesty little thing, ain't it?"Peter asked rhetorically.

"You can say that again."Winston added as he fired at the ghost. It just flew out of the way and taunted them. Peter opened his mouth then decided against it and fired at the ghost as well, this time catching it in a proton stream. Winston added his own stream to help keep the ghost where it was.

"Stand back guys."Ray warned as he slid the trap underneath the ghost. He stepped on the foot pedal to open it, pulling the ghost in and confining it until they could take it back to New York.

"That was almost too easy!"Peter boasted.

"Careful man. If your head gets any more swelled you won't fit in the car."Winston warned with a smile.

"Then I'll make room by making you take a cab back to the hotel."Peter retorted. Just then, the owner of the restaurant approached them.

"Are you the famous Ghostbusters?"He asked, looking at the proton packs they were wearing and the smoking trap.

"That we are!"Peter said with a chesire grin,"pleased to make your aquaintance."

"Did you take care of that bothersome ghost?"The owner asked nervously.

"Got 'im right in here."Ray said, holding out the trap.

"Good, good. How much do I owe you?"

"Standard charge, of course, but we'd be willing to knock off a bit for a free meal."Peter compromised.

"Of course. Thank you."

"No problem."

"Tell me something,"Egon requested as he walked up to the owner,"have you had a problem with ghosts before?"He was frowning.

"No. This is the first time I've ever seen one."The owner answered, surprised at the question."In fact, I don't think I've _ever_ heard of a ghost around here before."

"What do you think that means Egon?"Ray asked.

"I'm not sure yet."Egon said thoughtfully."It definitely warrants investigation though."

"Hoo-ray."Peter said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.   
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6:30pm   
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_"Today's top story: The Ghostbusters, those famous heros from New York who are here to participate in a conference on the paranormal, were all business this afternoon as they defeated a ghost which was terrorizing a local restaurant.__  
"We sent reporter Sarah Hanson in to interview the owner of the restaurant. Let's go in now to see how she's doing. Sarah?"_

_"Thank you Tom. As you can see..."_

"Since when have **you** ever watched the news?"Shaun asked with amusement, noticing Mileena's choice in programming.

"Since some ghost trashed a place in Edmonton and the Ghostbusters had to save everyone's hide."She responded, eyes still glued to the screen.

"Really?"Shaun asked, now interested. He joined Mileena on the couch.

"Yeah. Apparently they're here for some conference or whatever, and when they went out for supper the place they picked ended up being haunted."

Shaun let out an involuntary snort. Mileena looked over at him questionally.

"Bit ironic, don't you think?"He elaborated."Out of all the places in a huge city like Edmonton, those guys ended up picking the one housing a ghost. I mean, what are the odds?" Mileena giggled at the thought.

"Pretty rare, I guess."She said."Lucky for everyone else though."

"True."

"It _is_ strange though."Mileena said thoughtfully. Shaun glanced at her.

"Have you heard of any ghost sightings in Edmonton recently?"She asked. Shaun shook his head.

"Can't say that I have."He told her.

"Neither have I. So why would one suddenly appear like that?"

"I couldn't tell you. It was probably nothing though. Don't worry about it."

"But..."Mileena began, then stopped.

"But what?"Shaun pressed, wondering what she was so worried about.

"Well, it's just that I think I might've seen a ghost earlier."She admitted.

"You did?"He asked, eyes wide in surprise. Mileena nodded.

"When?"Shaun demanded.

"It was only briefly,"Mileena assured him."I was in my room putting some stuff away when it felt like someone was watching me.   
"I turned to my hamper and I could've sworn I saw a pair of eyes between the slits on the front. However, when I ran over and opened the lid it was empty."

"Strange. You sure that you really did see the eyes? You might have just imagined them; you _have_ been playing a lot of video games lately."Shaun said disapprovingly.

"I'm sure I wasn't imagining it! I know what I saw!"Mileena said indignantly.

"All right, all right. If you say you saw a something then I believe you."Shaun told her,"do you want me to ask the Ghostbusters to come here and check it out?"

"No."Mileena decided.

"Why not?"Shaun asked, surprised.

"I don't know if I'll even see it again, so there's no point in wasting their time like that. Besides, I heard that they're pretty pricey, and I'd rather we didn't dish out the cash just to get rid of something that might turn out to be kinda harmless after all."

"Okay, if you're sure then."Shaun said, himself unsure. His tone reflected that.

"I am."Mileena said firmly.

"All right, I won't call them. But if you do see those eyes again, or anything else, I want you to tell me right away, all right?"Shaun said sternly.

"All right."Mileena agreed.

"Promise?"Shaun pressed just to make sure.

"I promise! Geez, lay off will ya?"Mileena exclaimed, rolling her eyes. Shaun, now satisfied, let the matter drop.   
---------------------------

At the hotel where the Ghostbusters were staying

7:05pm   
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"Mmm...I'm ready for a nice, relaxing evening,"Peter said, dropping onto his bed in the room he shared with Egon (Ray and Winston were in the room next door) and turning on the tv,"I wonder if there are any good movies on tonight?"

Egon, however, was busy talking to his wife on the phone. "The Class III was merely a minor nuisance. It was easy enough to deal with."He told her as he described the dinner-time bust. He then smiled at her response.

"We still have four traps left and I ensured that the packs were fully charged before we left. We'll be home on the 28th, so I doubt we will run into a problem concerning lack of equipment."He assured her. He and Janine exchanged a few more words and then Egon laid the phone receiver down and glanced over at the television screen.

"What, exactly, are you watching?"He asked Peter with a raised eyebrow.

"Some old horror movie from the fifties I think. It's pretty good."Peter replied."How's the missus?"

"Convinced that 'trouble follows us like a lost puppy'."Egon replied, using Janine's words.

"I couldn't agree more."Peter told him as a vampire in the movie attacked its next victim.   
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In Ray and Winston's Room   
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"Do you think we'll run into any more ghosts before the trip is over?"Ray asked, excited at the thought.

"You never know. These ghosts have a way of just showing up when you're least expecting it."Winston pointed out.

"That was exciting though, wasn't it?"Ray continued,"we dicussed ghostbusting this morning, and this afternoon we got to go out and bust a ghost when we were merely trying to grab a bite to eat."

"No matter where we go we're always on the job."Winston realized.

"Aren't you glad though?"Ray wondered.

"Yeah, I am."Winston admitted."It's nice to know that we're helping people elsewhere, and not just in New York." Ray nodded in agreement.

"I wonder though,"Winston said,"if maybe something bigger is going on after all, like Egon suggested earlier."

"That's what I'm thinking too. Whatever it is though, I know we'll be able to handle it."Ray said with confidence.

"Always the optimist."Winston said with a smile. Ray grinned back at him.   
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The Next Day, 7:15am   
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"Remind me again why we're up and about at this godforsaken hour?"Peter asked with a yawn, leaning against the front passenger door of their rented car. He, along with the others, was dressed in his uniform.

"To investigate a possible paranormal threat in the area."Egon told him, examining his PKE meter.

"Uh-huh. So we just drive around hoping to find something? Sounds fun."Peter replied, rolling his eyes.

"Anything yet?"Ray asked from his seat beside Egon. He leaned over to get a good look at the screen on the meter.

"Not yet."Egon said with a frown.

"What if we try driving outside the city?"Winston suggested,"if somebody's up to something, he's not likely to do it where other people will notice, right? He probably would take it somewhere just outside of Edmonton, where he would be less likely to be found out."

"An excellent point."Egon told him."Very well. Let's try a nearby town then. Which one do you think we should start at?"

Ray pulled out the provincial map that he had brought along and examined it.

"From the looks of it, there's a town close by called Leduc. Hey! It just happens to be across the highway from the Edmonton Airport."Ray noticed with a surprised grin.

"Weird name."Peter commented.

"All right then. Leduc it is. Just tell me how to get there."Winston told Ray, who quickly gave him directions.

"What about the conference?"Peter asked, not looking forward to it but bringing it up anyway.

"The conference isn't until this afternoon. As long as we get back by noon, we'll have plenty of time to eat and then attend."Egon told him.

"Goody."Peter replied sarcastically.  
---------------------------

Author's Notes: Next time the Ghostbusters arrive in Leduc and find out that Edmonton is not the only place with a ghost problem. Just what's going on and who's behind it? And what will they do about the fact that they have to leave the very next day?


End file.
